MANAMA:The Cabinet on Sunday discussed and endorsed a memo presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the establishment of a diplomatic mission for the Bahrain in the Republic of Indonesia.
The Official Government Spokesperson and State Minister for Information Affairs Sameera Rajab told reporters during weekly post Cabinet meeting briefing that the initiative would help in strengthening relations and cooperation with friendly Indonesia.
The Cabinet discussed and approved the memorandum presented by His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the establishment of a diplomatic mission for the Kingdom of Bahrain in the Republic of Indonesia.
The project comes thirty years after the establishment of diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level between the two countries and the opening of the Embassy of Indonesia in the Kingdom in 2010.
The project aims to strengthen friendly relations and develop bilateral cooperation in various areas of common interest, as well as to support trade and economic exchange, which was estimated at BD53, 205 million Dinars of non-oil products in 2011.
HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister chaired the regular Cabinet session of Sunday the 16th of March 2014.
“The Cabinet condemned the statement of the Iraqi Prime Minister in which he accused the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of terrorism,” the Minister said.
HRH the Prime Minister congratulated His Excellency the Minister of Interior on the occasion of the graduation of a new police batch.
HRH also thanked Her Excellency the Minister of Culture for organizing the exhibition of the Bahraini artist Abdulla Al Muharraqi, who has committed his artistic career to the Kingdom.
HRH gave directives to all ministers to implement what was agreed on concerning the proposals of the House of Representatives according to the constitutional powers of the legislative authority. HRH also instructed the ministers to focus on implementing the Government programme and projects.
The Cabinet discussed and approved the memorandum presented by His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister, President of the Ministerial Committee for Services and Infrastructure concerning the memorandums and decisions referred to the Committee during the period from July 2013 to February 2014.
The Cabinet reviewed the measures that have been taken and the following-up on the memorandums and subjects referred to the Committee concerning development projects related to the various ministries and governmental institutions, which required coordination between numerous parties.
Draft Amendment to the Decree Law Concerning the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
The Cabinet discussed and approved the memorandum presented by His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister, President of the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs on the Draft Law amending some provisions of Decree Law No. (5) for the year 2002 approving the accession to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The draft amendment is as per the Royal Directives to present the amendment to the Cabinet with the approval of the Kingdom of Bahrain to Articles (2) and (15), paragraphs (4) and (16) of the CEDAW, with the addition of the phrase “without prejudice to the provisions of Islamic Sharia.”
The amendment is in line with the royal directives to review before the Cabinet the addition of text to the Article II (bis) of the draft law so that the Kingdom of Bahrain is committed to implementing the provisions of Article (15) of paragraph (4) of the Convention “without prejudice to the provisions of Islamic Sharia.”
The Cabinet discussed the memorandum presented by His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister, President of the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs on the Draft Law amending some of the Penal Code provisions, issued by decree law No. (15) for the year 1976.
The amendment aims to strengthen the criminal laws, in Article (186) Paragraph (1), related to the bribery committed by a public official or whoever is assigned to carry out a public service, so that it becomes ” imprisonment shall be the punishment by for a term not less than five years for every civil servant or officer entrusted with a public service who asks for or accepts for himself or others a gift or privilege of any kind, or a promise to be given any of the above in consideration of doing an act or omitting to do an act involved in the duties of this office.”
The Cabinet decided to refer the matter to the Ministerial Committee for Legal Affairs for further study.
The Cabinet discussed and approved the memorandum presented by His Excellency the Minister of Industry and Commerce on the draft resolution to restructure the National Committee for Standardization and Metrology, in accordance with Article (4) of the Decree Law No. (16) for the year 1975 regarding the specifications and standards.
The National Committee for Standardization and Metrology specializes in setting the policy for standardization and metrology as well as the studying, adoption and modification of national standards, in coordination with the Standards and Metrology Organization for the GCC countries (GSMO).
The Cabinet discussed and approved the memorandum presented by His Excellency the Minister of Education on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Education and the Boris Yeltsin presidential Library of the Federal Republic of Russia.
“This MoU aims to create cooperation in the field of libraries, sources of knowledge, digital archiving as well as the exchange of expertise and training in the field libraries,” the Minister added.
The Cabinet discussed the memorandum presented by Her Excellency the Minister of Culture on the development project of the culture and tourism infrastructure.
The Ministry of Culture hopes to develop pottery factories, and the museum in A’ali, which serves the archaeological hills. This site, in particular, is nominated to be listed among the important sites included in the World Heritage List.
The Cabinet decided to refer the memorandum to the concerned committee for further study.
The Cabinet discussed the memorandum presented by His Excellency the Minister of Labour, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) on determining the fees payable by the licensing agencies that supply workers and by employment offices as well as determining the permits granted to foreign employers to conduct their work in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the work permits of domestic workers and those equivalent to them.
It should be noted that the proposed fees were discussed with the production parties, in accordance with the provisions of Law No. (19) for the year 2006 on regulating the labour market.
The Cabinet decided to refer the memorandum to the concerned committee for further review.